BREWING CONFLICT BETWEEN OBAMA AND CBC: Is it a principled difference or something else?

      The issue increasingly dividing the two is the administration’s economic stimulus efforts.

      Approximately three weeks ago, the Black Caucus joined with civil rights and labor groups to pressure the president to do more to combat growing unemployment among African Americans and other minorities.

      Black unemployment currently stands at a 28-year high of 15.7 percent while that for Hispanics has reached 13.2 percent, according to the labor Department. Obama said nothing in response to pressure from groups which are normally political allies.

      Then last week, the Black Caucus upped the ante and the pressure. The 10 Black members on a key House committee considering financial reform legislation favored by Obama boycotted a crucial vote to show their displeasure with the administration’s refusal to “target” more stimulus dollars to the needs of the nation’s minorities.

      However, on Thursday, Obama finally shot back at his critics and they did not like what he had to say. In an interview with USA TODAY and the Detroit Free Press, the nation’s first African American president said:

      “I will tell you that I think the most important thing I can do for the African American community is the same thing I can do for the American community … and that is get the economy going again and get people hiring again.”

      Several in the Congressional Black Caucus interpreted that statement as Obama saying he was not going to do anything special or “targeted” for the Black community even though it stands as his most loyal support base giving him approval ratings of 90 percent or better.

      Where this conflict is headed is unclear. But during the original call for targeted programs to aid Black America, Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said, “Make no mistake: this [targeted aid of minorities] is the civil rights issue of the moment.”

      And by the end of the week, reports emerged that Obama would back the idea of using part of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout to go towards a jobs creation program but there was no indication that the spending would be targeted towards minorities. (source: Taylor Media Services)